Everyone Achieves The American Dream

The American Dream is “a dream of social order in which each man and each woman shall be able to attain to the fullest stature of which they are innately capable, and be recognized by others for what they are, regardless of the fortuitous circumstances of birth or position” (Adams, 1931). It is the guarantee that with hard work and passion anyone can achieve upward mobility regardless of their origin. Many Americans believe in this promise, hoping that one day their first circumstance will not dictate the outcome of the rest of their lives. However the American Dream can be elusive without any real he American Dream eludes The novel Ragged Dick; or, Street Life in New York with the

Many people have come to America for adventure, opportunity, freedom, and the chance to experience the particular qualities of the American landscape. The American Dream is the idea that every United States citizen, including immigrants and residents, should have an equal opportunity to achieve success and prosperity through hard work, determination, and initiative. America somewhat provides access to the American dream, it is more so the citizen who provides access to the dream for themselves. Even though they encountered many trials and tribulations, with persistence, people such as Langston Hughes in “I Too Sing America and Anzia Yezierska in “America and I” they were able to achieve their individual American Dream.

Thesis Statement: The achievement of the American Dream, represented by social classes and opportunities available for social advancement, is unrealistic. The American Dream is propaganda for capitalism, rooted into the minds of believers that are used for labor. Capitalism’s fixed social classes leave no room for immigrants or for the hopeful to move up towards material success and wealth.

Imagine living in a perfect world where people can do what they want with their life; a world without discrimination, where art is just as important as math. Well, it's not going to happen. At least not in the next century. The lack of accessibility of the American dream is especially apparent in the essay by Kesaya Noda, “The Four Freedoms” by Franklin Roosevelt, “Veterans Day: Never Forget Their Duty” from the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, and an excerpt from “The Newsroom”. The American dream is inaccessible to the majority of people in America.

regarding the issues of living in “White America”. He states a series of oppression amongst African Americans that have generated from past history but has resurfaced in the twenty first century. In addition, he also talks about how living in “White America” is affecting the minds of the black community. The purpose of this essay is to conduct a rhetorical analysis of the “American Dream” regarding Ethos, Pathos, and Logos.

The American Dream is often one of the most well-known benefits of living in America. It is the push factor that has driven millions of foreigners to flock to the so-called land of opportunity. Originally, the American Dream was established by a clause in the Declaration of Independence. It reads, “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness” (Declaration of Independence par. 2). The original American Dream, as laid out by the founding fathers, was freedom from religious persecution and the right to live a happy life. That simple idea has undergone a significant metamorphosis and now the American Dream is much more complex. It has turned into a deep avaricious dream. This transformation has been noted in contemporary literature, especially in the novels Reservation Blues by Sherman Alexie and The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald. These pieces of literature can be read as a larger commentary on the mutation of the American Dream and how it is now more of a negative desire for greed and material. Both Fitzgerald and Alexie surmise that the American Dream has been twisted and corrupted into an uncontrolled desire that has become unattainable for many and that the pursuit of the dream has become dangerous.

The topic of The American Dream has been brought up on many occasions. The arising issue that still ascends is whether or not The American Dream is alive or dead in the United States. The American Dream has come to the generalization of the personal perspective of any individual. The history of The American Dream has always gone back to the common man thinking of their future generations to come and how he will implant a positive outcome throughout it. Many now believe that the ideal plan of The American Dream cannot even be met anymore. Values and beliefs are now being questioned towards the aspect of upward mobility, the cost of education, jobs, and even affordable housing. Referring to an executive editor and vice president of Time Reporting, he states, “combined with a formidable American work ethic, made the pursuit of happiness more than a full-time proposition” (Meacham, Keeping The Dream Alive). This statement is targeted towards the actual definition of what The American Dream actually meant in various societies in the past. Happiness and a full-time of gratitude were critical aspects towards being met because it was the initial reason for this ideal. Some of the key causes and components that affect the way The American Dream is supposed upon today is the basic principles of economics, education, and a downward spiral. These reasons lead to The American Dream being considered in a diverse way with much complexity. The American Dream was different from the past and

For years upon years, we have heard the concept of an “American Dream” repeatedly. In school, at home, and there’s probably several who have mused about it on their own during their time by themselves. It seems that, also, several have concluded that the Dream is dead: gone, disappeared, poof into thin air. Some argue that it’s nothing but a pack of lies our predecessors were fed to believe that perhaps America had a better future lingering just around the corner, or that it’s changed much from what it was ‘back in the day’. The American Dream has remained unchanged since the Great Depression, but the nation we are today may slowly be killing it. In John Steinbeck’s Of Mice and Men, the Dream is to have that equal opportunity for success, the same as in Bobby Jindal’s and Ellen Powell’s articles, but it seems that inequality may be killing the American Dream.

“The American Dream: Dead Alive or on Hold?”, written by Brandon King and Paul Krugman’s “Confronting Inequality”, similar address the underlying issues of American ideals while trying to persuade the audience that the American dream, is in fact still alive. In order to convince his audience of liberal economists, King builds his argument by using own meaning the “American dream” while using a number of rhetorical devices that effectively convince the reader that the American Dream has not died. King begins his essay by offering his point of view on the American and the potential of building more prosperity in America. While King gave facts about the high rate of unemployment and the crumbling economy, he used such evidence to further help build his argument. The audience that King is reaching out to is the American public; more specifically the those who have been identified as people who should know that the American dream is still alive.

For years, people have stressed the idea of an, “American Dream” saying that all people no matter social class or ethnicity will have an equal chance to be successful as every other American. People hope that through the American Dream they can live a life full of happiness and material comfort. The idea of this dream has also lead to millions of people from across the world to migrate to our country (Kimberly). Although this sounds great and promising, the idea that everyone in this country has an equal opportunity has come into question throughout time and people feel that others have a leg up in this world. A playwright that expresses the topic and idea of the,” American Dream” and the outlook that some may have on it is ,”Fences” Written by August Wilson. In his past works, Wilson has also expressed the views that people, mainly African Americans, have towards the changing world. By writing “Fences” Wilson shows that he feels that the,” American Dream” can be obtainable but because of situations and culture in the past, people in deprived areas may not adapt to the idea that they can create a successful life for themselves and begin to settle, resulting in them living in anger and regret which then then has a trickling effect throughout their families causing a negative and unhealthy environment for everyone around.

All things pass, and it seems the American Dream, this image of the United States being a land of opportunity, is slowly fading away as well. Those roads of gold have corroded and Lady Liberty’s torch is flickering. But maybe I’m wrong, and this inner pessimism has gotten the better of me. Maybe the American Dream is alive and well? We’ve elected a billionaire deemed a bigot and a misogynist as our next president. Our unsustainable social security system is on a path to extinction, and social mobility has come to a screeching halt. Oh how this land of opportunity has opened so many possibilities for the collapse of our nation. As Ehrenreich will demonstrate, the great social mobility associated with the American Dream is a correlation that no longer proves to be true. And though Swift’s discussion in “A Modest Proposal,” deals with the plight that plagues the nation of Ireland, it highlights the point that the common people are suffering with no voice to express their struggles, but rather only with the authorities to remedy the pain that they themselves do not experience, something the American public is dealing with as well, since our voices do not seem to be heard at times as well. This is only one of only the many reasons why the American Dream is faltering, and these readings are all pointing to the American Dream being a façade now, a nice veil to hide the harsh reality that America is facing today.

In 2012, Stephen Brighton gave a speech at the American Anthropological Association annual meeting explaining that the term “The American Dream”. It was coined by a writer named J.T. Adams and is defined as the ideals of freedom, equality, and opportunity. The idea behind the American Dream was that it was available to anyone who came to America (Brighton 4). “The New Colossus” by Emma Lazarus illustrates how the American dream and the statue of liberty welcome immigrants from across the world. Although, in Elizabeth Cady Stanton’s “Declaration of Sentiments” the author discusses the inequality of men and women and how the American dream was not being fulfilled to women. The theme of the American dream is present in both “Declaration of Sentiments” and “The New Colossus” by discussing the liberties to which Americans should be entitled, presenting the idea that opportunity exist in America for anybody to make a living, and that everybody is welcomed into American to experience the freedom, equality and opportunity of the American dream.

The concept of the American dream has been related to everything from religious freedom to a nice home in the suburbs. It has inspired both deep satisfaction and disillusioned fury. The phrase elicits for most Americans a country where good things can happen. However, for many Americans, the dream is simply unattainable. In F. Scott Fitzgerald’s “Winter Dreams,” Dexter Green, a hardworking young man born into the middle class, becomes wrapped up in his pursuit to obtain wealth and status in his life. These thoughts and ideas represent Dexter’s fixation on his “winter dreams,” or, the idea of what the American Dream means to him: gaining enough wealth to eventually move up in social class and become somebody, someday. As Dexter attempts

Nowadays, many Americans wonder if the American Dream is still alive. At one point in our country, people felt that they could achieve success by working hard. However, after the economic hardships and recession of the 21st century, a number of Americans not only lost income, but some also lost their jobs. Although there has been slow progression to improve the economy, there are those who question whether or not the dream of Americans can ever be achieved again. With unemployment levels still high and salaries failing to increase, there certainly is doubt in most of Americans. In his essay, Brandon King formulates ways to redefine and change the way to look at the American dream. After analyzing King’s essay, one can see his view as believing that the dream is still very much intact. As he points out, the American economy is a very complex system that has had downfalls, but there is always a way to get back up from it. Regardless of your economic status (poor or middle class), if one has a working job, it is possible to succeed based on how much someone is willing to work to achieve their goals. As King would agree, the American dream is not only still alive and well, but anyone can reach success.

America, the country where social and economic equality are supposedly attainable for one and all, is not always infallible. There have been many blunders along the way with racism and incompetence. Is the American Dream truly attainable for everyone? Picture the 1940’s America. A tight knit Japanese American family living on the west coast, is going about their business, making a living and trying to achieve their version of the American Dream. While the parents are immigrants from Japan, the children were all born in the U.S. The parents and older children have jobs and work hard to afford a nice suburban life, while the younger children go to school to learn to be good citizens. They go about their business, never bothering anyone and have adapted to the American lifestyle. As they are working to achieve their dreams, the world and devastation of war cut their dreams short, forcing them into devastating conditions and choices no one should have to make. Families are split apart and the Japanese Americans are now looked at as the enemy. The attack on Pearl Harbor by the Japanese and the signing of the Executive Order 9066 sent over 100,000 Japanese Americans to internment camps, many times tragically changing their definition of America and the American Dream. The novel, Farewell To Manzanar, by Jeanne Wakatsuki Houston and her husband James, is an autobiographical account of Jeanne’s internment experiences and feelings as a young girl at the Manzanar Internment Camp. This